Child of Athena
by WinterFairy209
Summary: His teeth were yellow and jagged. His eyes seemed to be glassy chunks of obsidian that swirled around in his sockets. A club rested threateningly in his grubby palm. All of this was wrapped in a demonic smile, like the bow on the horrifying present. She reacted to this new development like any rational, life-loving child. She screamed and fell off the curb.


**_Author's Note: I've been waiting to write this for a while!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except for the Parises and Linden._**

* * *

 _"_ _Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood._

 _If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life._

 _Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways."_

\- Percy Jackson

* * *

Summer fell like a blanket over the great city of Philadelphia and the place it seemed to focus on most was at the sprawling campus of a school built brick-by-brick by hardworking men: construction workers from Fitzgerald and Monroe.

One of the many classrooms held the usual suspects, 6th graders bored out of their mind as their teacher had shoved in a Blu-Ray about the wonders of math.

The teacher rose from her desk, punching the off button to the DVD player and pulled down the screen, her silver name plate glistening in the afternoon sun that had squirmed its way through the window blinds. _Ms. Collins._

Ms. Collins smiled patronizingly at her class, mindlessly shuffling the papers in her hand. "I have your math packet for the summer. Remember, show your work and it's due the first week of school." Suddenly, her eyes glinted as she got a presumptuous smile on her face. "Oh, and Cecilia, wasn't the convention just wonderful?"

All the students in the room turned and started to glare at a girl, presumably Cecilia. Cecilia had blonde hair that was thick and bushy and went down to her shoulders, forming a sort of rounded triangular shape. She had tan skin and a smattering of freckles over her nose. Her large, intelligent grey eyes were the only thing keeping her from looking like a surfer that had stuck her finger in a socket. She had slightly big two front teeth and was a bit tall for her age.

"Yes, miss," Cecilia answered, rubbing her thumbnail against the polished wood of the desk.

"Oh, yes, such an honor being able to represent our school," Ms. Collins said wistfully, before locking a fierce gaze at her students. "Samuel, come here and pass out these packets."

The clock's hand moved slowly around its circle as Samuel gave a crooked smile and took the papers from the bob-headed teacher, his smile disappearing as he turned around. When he got to Cecilia, the slam of the paper shook her out of her trance.

"Thanks," she murmured as Samuel walked away, glancing at the paper. She groaned internally. It was already giving her a headache, the tiny numbers scrunched together, only a small numbering and occasional paragraphs separating them. Her foot started twisting around absent mindedly as she stared. Mumbling, she scribbled her name down. _Cecilia Paris._

 _Ringgg_. Thank goodness for the bell. The scrapes of chairs and general chatter echoed in the room like a chorus preparing for their concert, the message of their song clear. _Free_. Cecilia hopped up, happy to get rid of her jitterbugs as she swung her old brown messenger bag onto her shoulder, before rushing to the door.

The students bumped shoulders as they squeezed out of the door frame, Ms. Collins shaking her head at the scrambling students. But, her shift was over and her trip to Miami was only days away, so she just sat at her desk and organized some final papers.

As Cecilia entered the hallway, she became lost in the blobs of red and beige, the colors of the school's uniform. A red polo with the school name, Newton's School for Gifted Children, embroidered in the upper-right corner was worn by every student, either accompanied by khaki skirts that went to their knees for the girls while the boys had khaki pants that dripped down to their ankles. Black Mary-Jane flats and dress shoes clicked on the shiny tiles of the hallway floor.

Shoulders bumped together once again with clashes and Cecilia knew who it was immediately when instead of a shoulder hitting hers, she got one to the face. "Watch it, Linden!"

Linden glared at her. "Sor- _ry_!" Linden Sapwood was a tall, gangly boy that walked with a limp. He had thick, curly chocolate brown hair that peeked out of his now slightly astray green newsboy cap and came in thin, wispy locks at his chin.

Cecilia gave him a grumpy look in response.

Linden rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, do you want to meet at the usual spot?"

"There is no usual spot!" Cecilia spat.

"Then why do we meet at the second parking lot every day-" Linden began in a snide voice.

"Because you follow me there!"

Cecilia never had a clue why Linden insisted on hanging out with her, especially since they bickered non-stop, but she did know it agitated her to no end.

"Hey! Do not!" Cecilia ignored him and left him standing next to the bulletin board about summer tutoring.

Finally, Cecilia squirmed her way out of the crowd and into the parking lot where her dad would pick her up. A quick scan of the area showed that her dad's familiar second-hand sedan was not in the area. Cecilia came to expect that when her dad wasn't at the school immediately, it would probably be ten to fifteen minutes before he arrived.

She settled herself on the curb of the sidewalk, bringing out her book on Greek Mythology. It had been a gift from her dad for her 7th birthday. He had said it was her mom's, so she totted it around constantly. He used to read it to her every night at bedtime when she was little, and the book was decorated with worn and tattered sticky notes, pointing out inaccuracies, written by her mom. She loved it. It made her feel close to the woman she had never met.

Suddenly, a thump sounded out to her right and Cecilia looked beside her to see a familiar ratty black backpack covered in pins and buttons. She sighed, irritated, and glared at the figure standing above her. "Look, it's the last day of school, Kevin. Is it really worth it anymore?"

"I say it's still worth a bit," Kevin answered plainly, plopping down next to her. Kevin's brown hair was practically shaved down to his skull after his well-known encounter with lice, and his brown eyes held their ever present mischievous glint. His relationship with the school was shaky at best, but with an I.Q. like his, the school couldn't help but take him in as the reformed bad kid. Cecilia and him probably should have been in the same social circle, albeit the elementary version, considering she was the "You can do it!" kid, with her dyslexia and ADHD, the one that everybody displayed like a trophy, but nobody felt the need to do anything else with. Kevin was just the bad egg that lurked around in the high school division of the school.

"Kevin, can you stop teasing the tiny-tot 6th grader? School's over and I want to go swimming~" Well, some people apparently liked bad eggs.

Laura "Honey" Johnson, so aptly nick-named for her long honey blonde hair and the number of males that had called her that. Right now Kevin was the current "champion".

"One second, Honey. I just wanted to make sure that my job was done before she left school," Kevin answered, and Honey snapped her strawberry bubblegum in response.

"Really?" Cecilia asked dryly. "You're so pretentious that bullying me is now your 'job'?" She hoped he didn't notice that she was now clutching her book protectively to her chest.

Kevin gave her a devilish smile, his teeth glinting in the sunlight, that unnerved Cecilia quite a bit, causing her fingers to tighten their grip as her eyes widened questioningly. "No. This is."

When the words left Kevin's mouth, he started to change. Now standing, he sprouted up into the air, his muscles unfortunately growing with. His crooked teeth turned jagged and yellow. His brown eyes seemed to turn into glassy chunks of obsidian that swirled around in his sockets. The school uniform was replaced with leather armor and a club that was more like a ripped tree root rested threateningly in his hand.

Cecilia did something, any rational, life-loving child would do. She screamed and fell off the curb.

Honey didn't even seem to notice her boyfriend's transformation, as she only groaned. "If you're going to beat her up, don't have me as a witness." With that, Honey walked off, leaving Cecilia alone with a hulking beast.

"Mortals," Kevin growled at Honey's retreating figure. "Pathetic."

"What-what do you want?" Cecilia shook.

"Easy. To see your bones crushed in my hand." Kevin launched his club at her, and Cecilia barely managed to roll to the side to avoid a concussion. The collision between the club and the pavement sent tiny tremors down into the Earth and Cecilia scampered to her feet, dropping the book on her bag.

She quickly checked her surroundings, only to realize with a sinking heart that nobody was there. Kevin heaved his club over his shoulder before swinging again, and Cecilia ducked. Kevin seemed ever more persistent with his two misses, and was determined to win this round of "Whack A Blonde".

Cecilia darted around the area, dodging out of swing to swing to swing. The school sign now had a missing corner. The pavement had a new pothole for decades to come. Crushed grass was everywhere. Plans sprinted through her mind like they were trying to win the next hundred yard dash, which, quite certainly, should have been her job at the moment. Lead him to a more crowded area? No, horrible plan, casualties would only be greater. Weapon, any sort of weapon? Cecilia checked the area of neatly trimmed grass and flowerbeds again. Not even a rock. Would somebody even come here? No, nobody really tried to bother her except Kevin and – Linden!

She wasn't sure if he could help, but two minds were better than nothing. "Linden!"

Kevin the mongrel laughed. "Stop calling for help, it will only make your pain greater." He tried to swipe at her, but his grimy fingernails barely scraped her, leaving small white scratches.

"Linden!" Cecilia screamed with all her might as Kevin swung again and only gained another miss. "Linden!"

Then, like a miracle, a gangly figure emerged from the distance. "I'm coming, I'm coming. I swear, the only time you want me here is when the cooking club was handing out _free samples_ -" Linden dropped the chunk of brownie he had been holding. "By Pan's pipes."

"What?" Cecilia squeaked. "Linden, can you get help?"

"I am the help!" Linden squabbled, fumbling with the zippers of his backpack.

"What?" Cecilia watched him with an unabashed curiosity, before instantly being brought back to the life-or-death situation when she felt the heavy root bang into her left knee. "Gah!" Her kneecap flew into her other leg from the impact and Cecilia found herself on the sidewalk, gripping her knee as pain flew through it.

Kevin laughed, raising his club for another blow before music started to fill the air. "Huh?"

Linden had started furiously blowing on a set of pipes and Kevin watched him with morbid fascination at the thing, like an animal as it hears it's preys last call for help.

Then something amazing happened. Kevin screamed. Grass had started slinking out of the ground like snakes, strengthening and wrapping around his ankles before retracting, dragging him with them. Kevin thrashed and wailed, but it didn't do any good, the grass was too strong. It drew him to the ground, wrapping around his torso and arms next. Kevin's face was forced in the dirt and his screams became muffled. Linden continued to blow, fainter and his face red like a tomato. The ground seemed to open up, and Kevin sank in, then was silenced.

Cecilia looked at the spot where Kevin used to be with an expression of utter horror, her eyes wide and mouth agape. Linden wheezed, his hands resting on his knees. He then stumbled over to Cecilia, and crouched down next to her. "Here, eat this."

Linden pulled out a square of food with crumbs surrounding it and offered it to her. Cecilia decided not to argue with the guy who had just killed monstrous Kevin, especially because Kevin had been trying to kill her, and took the food numbly, before apprehensively taking a bite. She was surprised to find the rush of flavor in her mouth tasted like the sugar cookies she and her dad would get every Sunday afternoon at the bakery and when she looked down, the bruise that had been forming on her knee was now rapidly receding. She stood up and tottered around before firmly standing on her own two feet.

Cecilia looked at Linden and ordered, "Answers."

Linden looked at her with fake innocence. "What?"

"Why was Kevin like that? Why are your pipes magic? Why did you _murder him_?" Cecilia babbled. "Did I hit my head without realizing it? Am I insane? Are you insane? Did we get a theater department? Did the computer geniuses recruit you for an elaborate prank? Was it because I told Bert to bug off? Because he deserved it, he asked for my math homework just because he forget his! Are we trying out a new hologram system? Was it Hooke Prep? I hate those guys. Was it-"

Linden threw his hand over her mouth and commanded, "Shh."

Cecilia glared at him and pulled his hand off. "Don't do that."

"My job would be a lot easier if you stopped talking," Linden said.

"Oh, why does everybody keeping saying that? Are you trying to murder me too?" Cecilia put her hand on her hip.

"No, the exact opposite. Oh _,_ and _thanks, Linden_."

"Thanks, Linden."

"I already said it first."

"I meant it!"

"Alright, come on." Linden grabbed her wrist and started to drag her away. "We have to go to your dad's house."

"He's already coming here!" Cecilia objected, tugging her wrist out. "And what did I say about touching?"

"Oh, right. Hold on." Linden pulled out an old flip phone before looking at her. "It'd be preferably if you stood about, ten feet away."

Cecilia rolled her eyes, but obliged.

* * *

"He said he's still at your house." Linden started walking away and gestured for Cecilia to follow him.

"Dad!" Cecilia murmured under her breath before trailing after Linden. "How do I know you won't kill me?"

"Because I already would have."

"Worst. Savoir. Ever." Cecilia placed herself on the edge of the sidewalk, spreading her hands out for better balance.

"Hey!"

"You just said you would have killed me!"

"First of all, did not, second of all, but I didn't!"

"Still doesn't make it right!"

"I stopped Kevin from killing you!"

Cecilia pouted at the ground. "Yeah, I know. What was that anyway? And how do you know where my house is?"

"One of the things I need to know for my job," Linden answered shortly.

"Is your job professional stalker?"

"Ha ha ha, very funny."

"I know. Seriously, what was up with Kevin?"

"He was being a jerk."

"Stop being evasive! Tell me!" Cecilia swirled around, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at Linden.

Linden turned around and looked up at her. "I think your dad should be the one to tell you."

"Fine, then we're taking the bus." Cecilia pointed to nearby bus stop sign a block away.

"Why?"

"Because you can't run and I am _not_ waiting."

"What gives you the idea I have money?"

"Because _I_ have money, or at least, enough for a bus fare."

* * *

Cecilia hopped off the bus before helping Linden stumble off. "Thanks!" she called to the driver before the bus sped away.

They walked up to her house, a little light blue one story in the suburbs, and knocked.

Mr. Paris answered the door, but seeing Linden, his face fell. "Oh, gods." David Paris had brown hair and matching eyes, and when he saw the situation, ran his hand through his hair worriedly. He wore a crisp light pink shirt and beige khakis pants that went to his ankles. He had bags under his eyes and his breath had the distinct scent of coffee. He wore thin, black-framed rectangle glasses and had faint white and brown stubble on the lower-half of his face.

"Dad, what's going on here?" Cecilia pressed. "Do you know him?"

"Come in, come in," he said, brushing the two inside, ignoring Cecilia's questions.

He led them into the living room. "I was just working on some projects," he said, hurriedly cleaning up some scattered papers and putting them next to his laptop.

"Mr. Paris, do you want to tell her?" Linden asked. "Because I told her you would tell her."

"Tell me what? What?"

"You," Mr. Paris sighed, sinking into a chair. "You remember your mother, right, Cecilia?"

"Of course, dad." Noticing her dad's expression, Cecilia continued, "But she's dead." Cecilia looked around hesitantly. "Right?"

"I never told you such a lie, Cecilia," Mr. Paris said with a stern look on his face.

"But, you always said she was watching," Cecilia pointed at the ceiling. "Up there."

"She is."

"Doesn't that mean she's dead?"

"C, if your mother was dead," interjected Linden. "She'd be watching from down there." He pointed down at the ground.

"First of all, I never agreed on a nickname," Cecilia snapped, frustrated by the conversation. "Second of all, _what_?"

"Your mother is Athena, goddess of wisdom," Mr. Paris finally said.


End file.
